Shades . . .

. . . of gray?  Not in Mitt Romney's (and his current defenders') world. . .

After seeing the photo of Libyans holding a sign stating that "Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans",  I decided to change tack a bit.

If you want to have a tough-talking, take-no prisoners, shoot-from-the-hip, show-no-mercy-type of president, vote for Mitt Romney.

If you prefer a rational, sympathetic, empathetic, thorough, fact-loving, humanitarian, logical, intelligent and reasonable president, DON'T.
====================================================================
(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/mitt-romney-consulate-attack_n_1875906.html)
The Romney campaign's statement seemed to be an attempt to capitalize on the appearance that the Obama administration -- which has overseen the Arab Spring, and the rise of Islamist governments in both Egypt and Libya -- was capitulating to the sensitivities of an unruly Muslim crowd, rather than backing the right of an American citizen to release a disrespectful film.

But the statement criticized by the Romney campaign came early in the day, before the attacks on the two embassies, and was put out not by the White House, but by the Cairo embassy itself.
The White House later disavowed the statement as not approved by Washington, according to a senior administration official speaking to Politico.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt also commented on the statement from the Romney campaign. “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” LaBolt said in a statement.


(from http://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/cnn-sort-of-calls-out-mitt-romney-and-newt-gingrich-for-lying-and-politicizing-libya-tragedy/)
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and John Berman did an excellent job of keeping the facts straight as they interviewed former Speaker Gingrich on the subject, no mean feat given Gingrich’s comical contempt for facts. Early in the interview, Gingrich opined that the protests in Libya and Egypt were the result of “collusion and a fair amount of planning,” which may or may not turn out to be true, but which there is no evidence of. When Berman asked the Speaker “Do you have any proof that there is a connection right now?” Gingrich prefaced his response with a long, derisive laugh that tells you everything you need to know about the former Speaker and Romney surrogate’s regard for facts.
“Look, I don’t have access to the NSA listening devices,” Gingrich responded.

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So Much Malice. . .

. . . and so few facts. . .

(from factcheck.org)
". . . Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as the vice presidential nominee:

• Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances, and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.

• Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.

• Claimed the American people were “cut out” of stimulus spending. Actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers.

• Faulted Obama for failing to deliver a 2008 campaign promise to keep a Wisconsin plant open. It closed less than a month before Obama took office.

• Blamed Obama for the loss of a AAA credit rating for the U.S. Actually, Standard & Poor’s blamed the downgrade on the uncompromising stands of both Republicans and Democrats. . . "

Of course the other side takes advantage of the 'spin' quite frequently as well.   When will it end?

The Bitter End
©2003 Raymond M. Jozwiak



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Humanity. . .

. . . stinks. . .

Why is it that, in the interest of one's self, it is so easy to be impatient, rude and inconsiderate towards one(s) that you love the most?   It's just not right.  I hope I can stop myself from being that way the NEXT time it occurs.

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A Man. . .

                                                                               Orson Welles from The 3rd Man

I know a man who tries too hard
'Cause he wants to be liked
Both near and far
But it's not all that simple
A story to tell
And I'm sure it all started
Way back when
He was only a child
The whole world laying ahead of him
He couldn't get what he craved
No matter how much he tried
An uphill battle awaited
Then something clicked inside

Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me

I know a man who talks so much
He's got nothing to say
But it's never enough
And it's like second nature
He's as social can be
But the topic is always 'about me'
From his self-centered view
His egoist perspective
Subject of interest he's found
His world revolving around him
The real one beyond his touch
With real people there too

Please won't you understand I don't want every man
Doing just what I would do or moving the way that I move
or the the way that I sit or stand

Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me

I Know A Man (Just Not Like Me)
©2012 Raymond M. Jozwiak



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Faith. . .

(from "Thelonious Monk:  The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley)

". . . Valerie W. [Journalist Valerie Wilmer]:  Do you believe in God?
Monk:  I don't know nothing.  Do You?
Valerie W.:  No. I do not.
Monk:  It's a deep subject, you know, trying to think about it. I kinda go along with you. . . "

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Many of the . . .

. . . Forces. . . 

(from http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/07/13728411-weak-jobs-growth-beyond-governments-control?lite By John W. Schoen, NBC News)

". . . No matter who ends up occupying the White House in January, many of the forces that have kept unemployment high and jobs growth slow will be beyond his control.

With employment growth stuck at a slower pace than in any recovery in the past half-century, the presidential campaign now turns on which candidate -- President Barack Obama or former Gov. Mitt Romney -- has the better plan to boost employment. The latest jobs data will do little to change the debate.

The economy added just 96,000 new jobs in August, well below the roughly 130,000 economists had been expecting. Gains in the prior two months were revised down by a combined 41,000. Manufacturers cut 15,000 jobs last month, while another 7,000 government jobs were lost. Temporary employment fell by almost 5,000 workers.

Other recent reports had painted a somewhat brighter picture. Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, and a private survey by payroll processor ADP found that companies created some 200,000 new jobs in August. Another private report showed that service sector companies, such as hotels, retailers, and financial services firms, expanded at a faster rate last month. . .

. . . That uncertainty – and reluctance to hire – will be stoked by a series of other forces holding back the four-year-old recovery:

    While subpar economic growth feels like a recession to many Americans, Europeans are coping with the real thing. The economic contraction that began in troubled economies of Greece and Spain is now spreading to Germany, the flywheel of Europe’s economy, the largest in the world. China, along with the developing economies that feed its massive manufacturing machine, is in an economic slowdown that Beijing has so far been unable to reverse.
  
 The budget impasse in the U.S. is due largely to huge, and rising, cost of providing health care and retirement income to an aging population. The dearth of private retirement savings will bring a slowdown in consumer spending as baby boomers continue to tighten their belts. Those trends are irreversible.
  
 With wage growth stagnant, growth in spending remains weak for consumers in every age group. The boom in borrowing during the 2000s helped offset sluggish wage growth. The resulting housing bust destroyed trillions of dollars in household wealth. Though the housing market is beginning to recover, it will take at least a decade for prices to recover to the 2006 peak.
  
 As private employers have slowed the pace of new hires, state and local governments are still shedding workers. The Obama administration’s massive federal stimulus program – now criticized by Republicans for failing to produce the number of jobs originally projected – helped blunt those layoffs. As those funds have dried up, local governments have been hit with lower sales and property tax receipts, cuts in state aid and, in some cases, mandated tax caps.

Even the Federal Reserve – the economic fire brigade of last resort – seems to have run out of tools to fight the fire. Friday's weak jobs report give the central bank more reason for another big money drop known as quantitative easing or QE. But after two rounds of more than $1 trillion in pump-priming, and short-term interest rates already at zero, most economists see diminishing returns from another effort to stimulate growth by pumping more money into the system.

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Rethink. . .

. . . our position?  Why not?

(from http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/06/13711389-dem-official-arab-americans-got-punched-over-jerusalem-switch?lite)
". . .The Democratic party’s abrupt platform reversal on Jerusalem -- reinstating language describing it as the capital of Israel despite loud objections from the Democratic National Convention floor -- stirred fresh and unexpected controversy Thursday in Charlotte as Arab-American and Muslim party officials expressed anger over how the issue was handled and predicted that it may suppress Democratic votes this fall among constituents in key swing states.
“I’m concerned that Arab-Americans will feel they got punched in the solar plexus,” said James Zogby, the president of the Arab-American Institute who serves on the Democratic Party’s platform committee. “This was ham-fisted and a blunder ... They stepped all over the convention the way this was done.”. . . "






                                                           and. . .

(from http://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/michael-scheuer-says-israeli-lobby-has-tied-american-govt-down-like-gulliver.html)
". . . Host:  Would you change our policy with Israel and Saudi?. . . We can't sir, we can't do either one. The Israeli lobby controls our politics and the Saudi Arabians control the most important reserves of oil. The United States government is like Gulliver, it's strapped to the ground.... We're stuck in the middle east and we'll have to keep taking the pounding we've been taking....
Because we've taken no cognizance of [our enemies' motivation], we've given the next generation away to the Islamists. We've made no dent in the appeal of people who want to get us out of their neighborhood..."

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